Anna Maria Trattoria — Restaurant in Vaughan

FINAL UPDATE (#3) - For other two, please scroll to bottom.

You can clearly see the man-child of an owner's unhinged rant at the bottom, so you know what I'm saying is true. Since I'm being called a liar, I figured I'd make the entire conversation public.

I originally spoke to one of the restaurant owners Maurizio. Maurizio apologized left and right about the whole thing and promised that he wanted to "make it right". Originally we just asked for the water to be refunded, but Maurizio stated that he didn't feel that was making it right and wanted to bring us in for a dinner on him. He also stated that he did not want us to remove or edit the review in any way and he stated this multiple times.

After around 5 days, "Johnny" called and demanded we take down the review or Maurizio's statements would not be honoured. Obviously we won't give in to bribery as we feel that reviews need to be honourable. Something Johnny clearly spits on. You enjoy your "family run" scam Johnny and continue watering down the "in house made spicy oil" :). Gotta penny pinch any way you can I suppose, including scamming your guests and attempting to buy them when they call you on it. Maurizio / Johnny's voice sounded the same, but their personalities varied wildly. Shame you had to go this way. We'll be issuing a chargeback through our Credit Card company for the entire meal as this restaurant is clearly a scam.

!!!!!WARNING!!!!! Bring your own water.

When we were seated, we asked for glasses of water. Our server said, "Sparkling or Flat". We asked for flat. Our server brought over an already opened bottle of flat water. Most of the nicer Italian restaurants use these to make it look fancier, but otherwise don't charge you for it. THIS PLACE CHARGES YOU FOR WATER AND DOES NOT TELL YOU. When we received the bill, it came out to $8 PER BOTTLE. There was no price for water in the drink menu, or in the food menu. EVERY. SINGLE. TABLE. In this restaurant had an opened bottle of water. They probably made hundreds of dollars off of people charging them for water without even asking or informing the person of the price.

Further, when we went to pay the bill, the waiter literally stood there as we looked over the bill. When one of us started taking a bit too long for his liking, he said, "I can't press enter until you OK the bill". Like who does this? He KNEW that if he gave us too much time to read the bill, we would have noticed this and questioned it.

This is A BORDERLINE SCAM. DO NOT EAT HERE UNLESS YOU BRING YOUR OWN WATER.

UPDATE: We spoke with Maurizio. He stated that he will work with his staff to ensure going forward they say, "Sparkling, Natural, or Tap" to ensure that the below issue does not occur again. Further, apparently they are getting new menus soon so that the cost of the water will be listed/disclosed properly. It was a positive conversation, but the below still applies as it still happened.

!!!UPDATE #2:!!!

Moments ago, we received a call from "Johnny" DEMANDING to take the review down, otherwise what constituted a verbal agreement between two parties would no longer be provided. As a result, ANNA MARIA TRATTORIA'S OWNERS APPEAR TO DOUBLE DOWN ON THE SCAMMING. Shady restaurant ran by shady people. DO...

I recently visited this establishment for a special occasion - Mother's Day and Birthday celebration, and was thoroughly disappointed by both the service and the quality of food.

The service was abysmal. We waited an excruciatingly long hour and a half just for appetizers to arrive and for our orders to be taken. To make matters worse, our drink orders were entirely overlooked, leaving us parched throughout the meal.

To top off the poor service, our waiter quite unceremoniously plopped the birthday cake we brought with us on our table. There was no offer to assist with cutting or serving, and no apology for the lackluster service. It felt as if he expected us to do it ourselves.

On a positive note, one staff member - a young lady who was a runner - did manage to shine amidst the disappointing experience. She was aware of and seemed apologetic for our waiter's incompetence.

Regrettably, the food didn't make up for the service. The quality was subpar, and didn't meet our expectations, contributing to the overall dissatisfaction.

I'd advise potential patrons to approach this place with caution. The glowing reviews, it seems, must pertain to a time when the establishment was under different ownership. This was an experience I wouldn't wish on anyone, especially for an occasion meant to be special. It was a Mother's Day/Birthday celebration that fell painfully short of the mark.

Response to owner: Dear Maurizio,

Thank you for your response. While we appreciate your effort to rectify the situation, we have no interest in contacting the restaurant regarding these issues. Our experience was deeply disappointing, and we have made the decision not to return.

Our intention with this review was not to seek reparations, but rather to provide information for other potential patrons about the quality of service we experienced. There might have been a manager present, but the waiter failed to alert the manager of the issue. It should not have been our responsibility to ask for a manager during our visit when the wait staff obviously noticed that things were taking way too long. At no point did the wait staff offer a conversation with the manager.

Respectfully, the responsibility for delivering a satisfactory dining experience shouldn't fall onto the customer. The onus should be on the staff to provide an enjoyable meal, from the moment a customer walks in until they leave.

If you wish to refund the meal, that would certainly be a gesture of goodwill. You can easily find the transaction details as my father paid for the meal on the said day. However, our decision to not return to Anna Maria Trattoria remains unchanged.

Best...

Substandard food if not poor. Ordered the risotto which was mushy and bland. The gnocchi was tough and dry. Decided to give it another chance and ordered the chicken with brandy cream for office lunch. I was expecting a fresh chicken breast. This looked like something out of a hospital cafeteria…processed, flat, tough, and flavourless. Won't be returning.

Response to Owner's comments: My review is not false. I did not contact your restaurant because I moved out of the province and no longer reside in Ontario. My review was detailed and specific, and as I worked next door, had no reason at all to fabricate a review, nor would I. So I am unsure as to what you mean when you say you "know where this is coming from". Perhaps instead of making false allegations, you should concentrate on replacing or coaching your cooks on how to cook decent and edible Italian food. As an Italian who has had the benefit of great Italian food my whole life, I think I was definitely in a position to give my review on food that I paid for, not once but twice. Thanks.

Second Response to Owner's comments March 7, 2023 I am responding to your second round of comments about my review, the first you deleted. Once again, my review is not false. I worked at the law firm in the same plaza, so you are the one who needs to stop stating that my review is false. What kind of arrogant business you are to think that a negative review equals a false review. Please get over yourselves. I reiterate that the food I ordered both times was exactly as I described it. And fyi, the other people who ate the food shared my views and were unimpressed as well. Due to your ridiculous reply comments, if I could give you zero stars, I would. Perhaps you should be more humble and take it as a coaching opportunity. I have read several of your other negative reviews with titles like "Disgusting service"..."Horrendous"..."Poor service"..."Mediocre food"...." and you have responded just as unprofessionally and rudely to those people, starting it off with "Listen....".

Let me guess...they're fake too, right? Ciao.

March 12, 2023 Sorry you're incapable of responding like a mature adult and business owner, as opposed to a classless, insolent person in very severe denial. Kindly consult your other reviews.

Please do Vaughan - and Italy for that matter - a favour and close down. You are in no position to be running a restaurant or interacting with people. You give the restaurant business, Italians, and Italian food a...